Hearing Loss and Signs – Can you Self-Diagnose the Problem?
Hearing Loss can happen in many different ways to people of all ages. While hearing loss can begin in your 30’s, but can be noticeable on a month to month or even year to year basis. Generally, it’s very rare that a person with hearing loss self-diagnoses the issue. To understand how hearing loss occurs, it helps to know how your ear works. Noise travels through the air as sound waves, which vibrate your eardrum and move three tiny bones inside your ear. That causes waves in the fluid that fills your inner ear. Those waves bend tiny hair cells, which are attached to nerves. They pass electrical signals to the main hearing nerve, called the cochlear nerve, which leads to the brain. As hearing declines, our brains adjust and we become remarkably effective lip readers, particularly of those we spend the most time with. We don’t even realize we are lip reading until we see that we can only understand people when they are directly in front of us.
Some of the Signs of Hearing Loss
1. Frequently asking friends and family members to repeat information.
2. Increasing the volume on the radio or TV to a level that’s uncomfortable for individuals with normal hearing.
3. No longer enjoying social activities like group dinners at restaurants.
4. Constantly asking people to repeat what they said. It appears that you forget what was just said (because you didn’t actually hear it).
5. Missing the beginning of conversations because it’s hard to hear them and when you jump in, they say ‘that’s what we were just talking about!’
What to do?
First of all, don’t assume you need hearing aids. Just get a hearing test. This is a good step for your general health. Declining hearing can be an early sign of something more serious. Take a quick hearing test of about 30 minutes. Here’re some quick tips to go for a hearing test:
1. Make you appointment with a local Hearing Care Professional/Specialist.
2. Get you ‘Word Recognition’ test done.
3. Have a copy of your test.
But, first thing is first! Long before you get hearing aids, you just need to get a hearing test. It’s important to diagnose and treat severe hearing loss as soon as possible. The sooner you begin therapy, the better you’ll be able to adapt.